Joined by C3 for Change founder Chase Sweers (left), Amelia Roloff (right) presents a $4,500 donation to Jean Latimer (center) to support breast cancer research at NSU’s AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research.

Around her twelfth birthday, Fort Lauderdale resident Amelia Roloff was busy preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, a Jewish rite of passage, when she received heartbreaking news. Her mother and role model, Tracy, was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. After seeing her great-grandmother, grandmother and aunt face the disease, this was not new to Amelia, but it was even closer to home.

In addition to supporting her mother, who is still undergoing treatments, and continuing her middle school studies, Amelia was determined to find a way to make sure others have a better chance at fighting – or even preventing – breast cancer.

Possibly through serendipity, Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Executive Vice-President and COO Jacqueline Travisano, Ed.D., introduced Amelia and Tracy to Jean Latimer, Ph.D., a breast cancer and solid tumor researcher at NSU. Amelia was immediately inspired and decided to support Dr. Latimer’s efforts. Having earned both his bachelor’s degree and M.B.A. from NSU, Amelia’s dad, Ari Roloff, was an enthusiastic supporter of her efforts.

For her Bat Mitzvah service project, Amelia enlisted as a teen ambassador for a non-profit organization called Coins Curing Cancer (C3 for Change) and created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for breast cancer research. She ultimately raised $4,500 to support NSU’s AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research of which Latimer is the director.

With this donation, Latimer will continue to explore personalized medicine for breast cancer treatment and research chemicals in consumer products that disrupt normal breast tissue formation.

Amelia is also writing a book to help explain cancer to young children. Of course, the hero is the healthy cell and the villain is the cancer cell. At the age of 13, Amelia is a hero in her own right.